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October
18
2018

$400 Oil… Is Not That Far-Fetched
Jody Chudley

For half a century it has been an act considered completely off limits…

A taboo subject…

Too dangerous to even mention.

Leave it to the world’s most dangerous man to change all of that.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. His father is the actual king, but he is in poor health and everyone knows that the Crown Prince is running the show.

For months now we have been keeping tabs on MBS… Warning you that he is a risk to global stability.

But the reality of how dangerous this man is has never been more apparent than right now.

This past weekend, on Sunday, October 14, 2018, to be exact, the Crown Prince went where his predecessors wouldn’t dare go…

Where the whole world would advise against going…

Through a very thinly veiled threat, MBS told the world that he was willing to use the Kingdom’s ultimate weapon — cutting off access to the vast Saudi oil reserves upon which economies across the planet rely on.

Make no mistake, this weapon is very real. Saudi Arabia is still by a wide margin the largest oil exporter on the planet.(1) Yes, we produce a lot of oil in the United States, but we consume all of it and then some.

If Saudi Arabia were to restrict the supply of oil to importing nations, the entire planet would be destabilized.

Don’t think that MBS would ever actually use this weapon?

Then you haven’t been watching the actions of the young prince.

An Impressive List of Misdeeds for Someone So Young

MBS is 33 years old.

With his position at the top of Saudi Arabia, this young man has as much power and wealth as almost anyone on the planet.

But his use of that power and wealth to date does not inspire much confidence in his actions going forward.

The prince came to power promising a new modern age for Saudi Arabia…

An age where human rights were finally respected in Saudi Arabia and barbaric ancient traditions finally left behind…

An age where Saudi corruption would be cleaned up and the oil wealth of the nation used to the benefit of all Saudi people instead of just a royal few.

Those were his words. Though his actions have been much different.

Instead of cleaning up corruption, the prince went on a personal shopping spree. In fact, it may have been the most epic personal shopping spree in the history of mankind.

Using the Saudi oil wealth, the Crown prince purchased for himself:

The world’s most expensive home, paying $300 million for the 54,000 foot Chateau Louis XIV castle in France — a replica of the famous Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte.

The world’s most expensive painting, paying $450 million for Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi.

The world’s most expensive yacht, paying $500 million for Russian tycoon Yuri Shefler’s 440 foot ship named the Serene.

On the surface these purchases are obscene. Dig deeper and it gets even worse.

He bought all of these things while putting already dirt poor Saudi citizens on an austerity program meant to offset the drop in global oil prices.

He bought all of these things while locking up other members of the Saudi Royal family under the guise of a corruption crackdown which was really a shakedown to further enrich himself.

And he bought all of these things while launching thousands of airstrikes on Yemen and creating the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet…

A crisis where more than 22 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, the entire country is on the edge of famine, and the worst cholera outbreak in modern human history is quickly spreading.

Let’s be real.

This man’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Which leads me to believe there is no reason to believe that this man possesses a conscious that would stop him from unleashing the Saudi oil weapon of mass destruction.

Are You Ready For $400 Oil?

Over the past weekend, excerpts of President Trump’s interview with 60 Minutes were leaked.

Included in what was leaked was President Trump saying that Saudi Arabia would face “severe punishment” if the kingdom was found to be behind the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The next morning, Riyadh issued through the Saudi Press Agency a rejection of all threats of economic sanctions, political pressure and false accusations, adding that it will respond to any action with “greater action.”(2)

The “greater action” being the thinly veiled reference to use oil as a weapon.

Just minutes after the Saudi Press Agency released that statement, Turki Al Dakhil, the head of the Saudi state-owned news network (and tight ally with the Royal Court) wrote the following in reference to what the oil weapon could result in:

“If President Trump was angered by $80 oil, nobody should rule out the price jumping to $100 and $200 a barrel or maybe double that figure.”

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out the fact that this article came just minutes after the official press release from Saudi Arabia means that these comments can be connected directly to MBS himself.

And yes, those comments would be a threat of $400 oil. (If that is what double $200 still equals!)

If that were to happen, could you imagine the carnage? It would be a Mad Max film come to life.

As to whether MBS would actually do it?

I certainly don’t know.

But given what he has done so far… how could you rule it out?

Here’s to looking through the windshield,

Jody Chudley
Financial Analyst, The Daily Edge
[email protected]

1Crude Oil Exports by Country, World’s Top Exports
2Saudi Arabia vows to retaliate against possible sanctions, Khaleej Times

 

 

Jody Chudley is a contributor to Contract Income Alert and The Daily Edge. Jody is a qualified accountant with a degree in Finance from Brandon University. After spending fifteen years in various finance and planning roles with an international financial institution, Jody set out to manage his portfolio on a full time basis. His background in finance has made him an expert in deciphering financial statements and he has keen interest in the resource sector. He has written for various websites and financial magazines with a focus on the resource sector and contrarian investment opportunities.

 

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